Craig Linn Ames, Esq.

Attorney

Craig Linn Ames has over 45 years of legal experience. He held the position of Director of Risk Manager for a Fortune 50 international organization, Walgreen Company, for 30 years. In this role he was responsible for employee insurance benefit programs as well as all property & casualty related cases. With a wide-ranging knowledge of federal & state benefit laws, Craig founded the ALG Law Group, a law firm which represents disabled persons who file VA Compensation & Pension benefit claims as well as Social Security Disability & Supplemental Security Income claimants before the Social Security Administration. Prior to his legal career, Craig served in the military as a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.

Under the federal government’s benefits system, a veteran, a veteran’s dependents or a veteran’s survivors are required to submit a plausible claim for an entitlement to VA benefits. There are many types of applications for benefits that can be filed with the VA. The “VA” means the Department of Veterans Affairs. A veteran who has a service-connected disability can apply for compensation benefits. Compensation is a monthly income benefit paid by the federal government for illnesses, injuries and aggravations of medical conditions due to serving in the armed forces. This is a tax-free benefit for a veteran who is injured...Read more

If a VA compensation claim results in a benefit approval, the VA will assign a disability rating. A VA benefit award can result in a combination of several disabilities, which are rated at different percentages. For example, a veteran can have one rating of 40% for a back injury, a rating of 10% for tinnitus, and a rating of 20% for a knee injury. The combined rating is not the sum of the individual ratings. In this example, the combined rating is not 70% (i.e., the total of each individual rating, 40% + 10% + 20%). Rather the combined rating...Read more

Dear Disability Advisor, USMC 1977, three weeks into training I broke my wrist doing jump down push ups sent home my position because of scare tactics of operation and recovery time by usmc. Filed they said it was an old break had arthritis in it said it was a overfight at recruitment physical (not true) denied claim filed again years later they said I should file for made worse by training . VA no help. I Don't trust any of this where do I go for help. Jim Dear Jim, A viable compensation claim can be made as a result...Read more

Dear Disability Advisor, USMC 1977, three weeks into training I broke my wrist doing jump down push-ups and was sent home (from) my position because of scare tactics of operation and recovery time by USMC. I filed for velocities. They said it was an old break, had arthritis in it. (They) said it was an oversight at recruitment physical (not true.) They denied my claim. I filed again years later, (and) they said I should file for “made worse by training.” The VA is no help. I don't trust any of this, where do I go for help? Jim Dear Jim, A viable compensation claim...Read more

Dear Disability Advisor, I'm currently appealing a decision based off my C&P exam for an increase. I asked for an increase on my left knee that is service connected and is rated at 10%. My left knee buckles and gives out twice a month, it pops every time I walk and has daily pain around the knee. During that C&P exam she also checked my right dominant hand for an increase. My right wrist cannot support heavy objects, my hand and fingers get numb every day, but the X-Rays that they had me take aren’t showing there's a problem. During...Read more